Stopping off in Berlin, Germany, after a brief business trip to Belgrade on behalf of the Institute, Claire visits her grandmother, Alice Marckwald, who lives there after gaining possession of an urban mansion in a restitution claim shortly after the unification of East and West Germany. The visit becomes open-ended as she doggedly pursues the objectives of the Institute using her crowd-sourcing expertise. Gradually, she discovers the true identity of her employer and the full extent of the danger she’s been exposed to.
The action is fast-paced, with Claire finding herself buffeted by criminal threats as she pursues her work through the capitals of Eastern Europe.
JOSEPH W. MICHELS is a novelist who makes his home in San Francisco. POSTSTRASSE 16 is his seventh novel—one that continues the author’s interest in exploring how characters respond to challenging circumstances against a backdrop of present-day Europe.